


Taking One For The Team

by Wolfcry22



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Allergies, Awesome Bobby Singer, Awesome Sam Winchester, Canon Compliant, Cats, Dean Winchester Has a Cat Allergy, Dean Winchester Whump, Gen, Humor, Sneezing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfcry22/pseuds/Wolfcry22
Summary: There's a cat at this place that won't leave Dean alone. Sam helps his brother and distract the cat, holds it, plays with it until they're able to leave. Only now, Sam's clothes are covered in fur and dander and they aren't really in a position where he can go and change.
Kudos: 17





	1. It Had To Be A Cat

Sam and Dean stood shoulder to shoulder at the next witnesses’s house. They had been looking for anyone that had seen a werewolf like creature attack their latest victim. No one had been able to recall anything, but everyone had said that if someone had seen something that it would've been Mrs. Marley. 

Everyone had said that Mrs. Marley liked to take long walks at night through the park with her dog. They had also said that she was a bit senile and had trouble remembering things, but Sam and Dean decided that she was the best lead that they had in this rural town. Besides, if you saw a werewolf, you would probably remember that.

"I hope she's not too old that she can't hear us," Dean muttered.

Sam nudged him. "Come on. Show a little respect. We only have to be here for a little bit since we have to meet Bobby to string up the trap in a half an hour. We have to be there at the exact time since it'll give the meat time to give off enough scent."

"That is disgusting and wrong that you actually know all that. Are you a werewolf in disguise or something," Dean asked just as the door opened.

There stood an elderly lady probably in her late seventies or early eighties. She was fairly short and had curly gray hair. Her eyes were brown and her skin very pale. She had more winkles then there was probably a number for and she was fairly skinny.

"Hello, ma'am. We're with animal control. Could we come in an have a word with you," Sam asked, hoping that she wouldn't ask for ID.

She smiled sheepishly, hopping aside with much more agility than Sam was expecting. "Come in. Come in!"

Dean stifled a groan as he followed Sam into the musty house. It certainly looked like an old lady had decorated it. There was lace everywhere and it smelled of perfume. She had pink carpet and Victorian style furniture. It didn't look like she had a lot of people over and Dean could see why. He felt bad for her, but not bad enough to stay any longer than he had to.

"I don't get a lot of visitors," she began as she spread her hand toward the living room, inviting them to take a seat on a couch that looked like it was from the 1940s. 

Sam and Dean took a seat beside each other, knowing not to comment on the strange looking couch. Almost as soon as Dean stretched out on the scratchy couch, he began to feel a strange tickle in the back of his sinuses. He didn't usually have a sensitive nose unless it comes to cats. He couldn't see any signs of a cat, but this women did appear to be the type of person that would have them.

"Etzshew!”  
  
Sam looked over to his brother, who had sneezed suddenly against a raised wrist. Sam offered him a sympathetic smile as the women came back into the room.

'Cats' Dean mouthed as he looked to his brother. He then peered around, checking for any sign of cats. He gave a small sniff through his nose and thanked God that he wasn't congested.....at least not yet.

"What does animal control want with me," the women asked innocently as she sat across from the brothers on a small white flower print chair. "I think that Prissy is still here."

"Prissy," echoed Sam in confusion.

The women nodded vigorously. "My dog. He's a Pomeranian!"

Dean laughed as Sam smiled uncomfortably. "Prissy is a he?"

Mrs. Marley shot Sam a strange look before he looked over to Dean. "Prissy is a boy and he's very happy with his name, thank you very much."

"Of course, Mrs. Marley. That's not what we're here to talk to you about. We're here to—“

"Etzshew!”

Dean crunched forward once more, sneezing against his wrist. He gave a light cough as he straightened, clearing his throat in the process. "Excuse me, sorry."

Mrs. Marley ignored Dean completely. "Then what is this about?"

Before Sam could answer, Dean felt something soft brush against his leg. He looked down and saw a cat as black as night with yellow eyes staring back up at him. It gave a mrrrrow before it sat down on it's haunches and then jumped up on Dean's lap. Dean held his breath as the explosive tickle rushed through his nose. It felt like a million tiny feathers were tickling the deepest parts of his nostrils, working forward and making every breath draw him that much closer to sneezing. He held his breath as the cat arched it's back and brushed it's head against Dean's chest, purring throatily. It's tail whiskered back and forth as it brushed it against Dean's chin.

"EtzShew! EtzhShew! EtczHew!"

Dean barreled forward with each sneeze, shoulders jumping up and watery eyes closing instinctively. He forced the cuff of his suit jacket against his nose for politeness. Dean attempted to sniff back the congestion only to find that his nose was streaming. He stole a quick glance over at Sam with an almost pleading look in his eyes.

"Um, Mrs. Marley, do you have any tissues? I think that my partner is catching a cold," Sam asked hopefully.

Mrs. Marley smiled as she rose to her feet. "I'll be right back." She walked out of the living room and down the hallway to the rest of the house.

Dean groaned as soon as she left and looked to Sam. "Seriously, there has to be a cat here," Dean moaned as the black cat jumped on the back of the couch so that it's tail flicked on Dean's cheek.

"EthzShew! Etczshew! Etzshew! Ugh, Sab!"

Sam stood up and grabbed the black cat. The cat meowed loudly before Sam carried him over to a seat still in the living room, but as far away from Dean as possible. "I'll keep him away as best I can," Sam told him.

Dean snuffled back congestion. "Thanks, Sabby."

"No problem," Sam told him with a kind smile, running his fingers through the cat's short dander ridden fur. The cat purred warmly as it snuggled into Sam's chest, head butting the underside of Sam’s neck. It gnawed a bit at his fingers and Sam laughed as it tickled. "She's cute."  
  
"She's a cad, Sab. Cads are never cude," argued Dean shortly.

The shuffling of feet alerted Dean to Mrs. Marley’s return. In her hand was a pristine box of tissues. She set it on the coffee table before sitting back down. She looked over to Sam and smiled at the cat. "I see you and Midnight are getting along nicely.”

Sam nodded. "Midnight is a good cat," he joked as he looked smugly over to Dean.

Dean grimaced back at his brother as he took out a few tissues from the box and dapped at his nose. He just prayed that this would be over quickly. "Mrs. Barley, did you see anything strange last dnight?"

Mrs. Marley seemed to understand stuffy talk, since she frowned and shook her head. "Not that I recall. Well, Prissy was barking at this giant dog in the corner of the park, by the woods, but that was it."

"Can you describe what this large dog looked like," asked Sam hopefully.

Mrs. Marley thought for a moment before she shook her head slowly. "No, I don't really remember. It was pretty dark and I wanted to make sure that it didn't attack Prissy. It did howl, though, and then went back into the woods."

"Etzshew! Etzshew! EtchzShew!"

Dean could barely breathe in between the onslaught of sneezes and it didn't show any signs of stopping.

"EthzShew! EchzShew! Etczshew! EtchSHew! EtzShew! EtchzShew!"

Sam knew that just being in close proximity to a cat was enough to set his brother off and that appeared to be what was happening. He couldn't stop sneezing and his breath was starting to wheeze deep within his lungs. His eyes were streaming with allergic tears and he was panting as the tickle continued to tease him, lurking just out of reach, not allowing the need to overwhelm him into the much needed sneeze, and only serving to make Dean even more miserable. His nostrils flared with each hitching breath, his flaming red nose twitching.

"Thank you, Mrs. Marley. You've given us a lot, but I have to get my partner home. He's not well," Sam told her urgently as he stood up, Midnight jumping from his legs and landing delicately on the floor. She rubbed against his leg again, back arching, before Sam walked back over to Dean. He looped his arm around Dean's shoulder and helped him up.

Dean pushed away from him as his nose itched madly. He lifted a hand over his face as he shook with each resounding sneeze that echoed around the room. He wasn't an overly loud sneezer usually, but as the congestion grew, so did the noise.

"EthcSHew! EtzhSHew! EtzhSHew! EtchSHew! EtzSHew!"

Sam led Dean forward as he continued to sneeze and wheeze for each breath. He scratched at his throat and wrist as though he had a vendetta against them. Dean’s skin began to burn, and when he looked down he noticed a rash spreading over those areas. He looked to Sam and Sam battered his hand away as Dean dug his nails against the reddening marks. "Don't scratch. It'll make it worse." 

"This can't get any..huh....EthzhSHew! Ugh worse," Dean argued between sniffles and wheezy coughs.

Sam rolled his eyes as he pushed Dean the rest of the way out of the house. Once he was outside Dean covered his hands with his face and continued to sneeze unrestrained.

"EThcSHew! EtZhSHew! EtchSHew! EtzSHew! EtchzSHew!"

Sam rubbed Dean's shoulders since Dean was almost buckled completely over. Dean grumbled as he looked over at Sam with tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. "Sab." Dean tried to pull his hand from his nose, but as soon as Sam saw what Dean had sneezed out, he pushed it back.

"Keep it there," Sam ordered with a grimace.

"I cand do dthadt forever," Dean complained as he tried to sniff back the congestion. It only succeeded in making his nose tickle more. "ETchSHew!"

"Bless you." Sam snapped his fingers as he took out a small folded handkerchief that he had in his pocket since it went with the suit. He passed it over and Dean shot him an odd glance.

"Whad do you wandt be to do with dthadt," Dean asked shortly.

"We don't have any tissues since neither of us were sick recently. You're going to have to make do with that until we can get something else," Sam told him as he walked back to the Impala.

Dean nodded, happy to get into the car since there was no cat hair in there. There he could breathe without the weird suffocating feeling that he felt on his chest.. His nose was itching beyond belief and the rash was spreading down his neck and up his arms. It itched tremendously, but he knew that Sam would just bitch about it if he started scratching, no matter how much Dean tried to tell him it itched. He was going to have to wait until he could get back to the motel, get some tissues and allergy medication, and just sleep it off.

Dean blew his nose in the soft folds of the handkerchief before cleaning up his hands. Once he was finished he shoved the handkerchief in his pocket for later use while he made his way to the Impala. He climbed into the driver's side when he felt the itch again.

"EthcSHew! EThzShew! EtzSHew! EThzShew! ETchzSHew!"

"Dude, what's up with you? You're usually good as long as you're not around them," Sam pointed out as he watched his brother intently with a raised eyebrow.

Dean pressed a fist against the side of his nose until he found fish out the handkerchief from his pocket. "Yeah, I dknow," he growled with a roll of his eyes. He suddenly looked Sam up and down as a horrified expression showed on his face.

"What?”

"The question you should ask is what's up with you?!" He pointed at Sam's suit in horror. Sam looked down and held his breath.

His entire suit was covered in little black hairs, stretching up from his pant leg to the cuff of his sleeves. He was sure that his hands were just as bad, coated in dander too from petting the affectionate feline and holding her. Yep, this wasn't good.

"Dude," complained Dean sounding like a whiney child.

Sam shook his head gravely. "What did you want me to do?"

"Not get my Baby covered in cat hair. It's just going to make me...uh....EtchsSHew!" Dean paused a moment as he brushed his hand against his nose. "Do that."

Sam smiled sheepishly. He had no idea what Dean had wanted him to do, but he understood that being covered in cat hair was probably not the best thing for his brother right now. Now that they were trapped in the car, it would only serve to make things worse on Dean thanks to the close quarters. Sam also feared that it would be a while before they truly got the cat presence from the car.

"You know, you're not going to like this, but we can't stop at the motel to change," confessed Sam as he wrung his hands together before he pointed to the steering wheel. "And I have to drive."

"What and no," Dean asked as he rubbed the cuff of his wrist against his nose madly, trying to calm the itchiness that he was feeling.

"First off I told you why we have to meet Bobby right away. Second, I don't want you sneezing and running us off of the road," Sam replied.

Dean bit the inside of his lip, debating on whether or not to dig his heels in on Sam driving.

“EthcSHew!”

It seemed like Dean’s sneezing had decided for him. With a grunt, he finally swung open the door and forced himself out. Sam did the same as the two of them switched sides. Dean held his breath as he sat in the passenger seat and saw all sorts of cat hair littering everywhere. Dean squeezed his eyes shut and crumpled forward.

"EtzhSHew! EtzhSHew!"

Dean lifted his head, his eyes and nose streaming. "You're going to pay for this. You're going to pay for this good."


	2. Cat Hair Everywhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam tried to be a good little brother and he’s afraid it may have backfired.

"EtzhShew! EtszShew! EtchSHew!"

The drive to the forest in the small upstate town in New York was only interrupted by the sounds of Dean's exhausted sounding sneezes. Sam would've liked to have a conversation, but any hope of one was futile. Dean couldn't go a minute without breaking into another harsh sneezing fit. Sam just decided that it would be best to apologize when they were both out of the Impala and into the forest where there was a lot more fresh air. 

Sam pulled up next to Bobby's truck on a secluded back road. He nudged Dean, still immersed in a sneezing attack, out of the Impala. He stumbled out and Bobby, who was leaning against the truck with his arms crossed over his chest, raised an inquisitive eyebrow as Dean approached.

"What the hell happened to you two?”

Sam snapped his fingers. "Good question, Bobby and an even longer explanation.”

Dean whirled around to glare at Sam. "You thingk? EtzSHew!"

Bobby glanced from Dean back Sam, who motioned to his suit. It was then that Bobby saw the long fibrous hairs that clung to Sam like a second coat. "Lady had a cat named Midnight and Midnight liked Dean and then I took Midnight and her hair and dander stuck to me. Looks like we're going to have to deal with this for a while."

"Well, that's just great. You two idgits are going to be almost no use here," Bobby pointed out as he thrust a gun that had specialized silver bullets against Dean's chest. Dean looked down to it, blinking allergic tears from his eyes. While he was momentarily distracted, Sam rushed forward and swiped the gun from Dean’s grasp.

"I'll go in front of you," Sam suggested hopefully.

Dean turned his head away and sneezed as far away from Sam as possible. "EtchSHew! EtzhShew! EThzSHew!”

Sam took a step back while Bobby rolled his eyes. "This is going to be a long hunt," he muttered as he lifted his rifle over his left shoulder. "I'm sure this werewolf will enjoy some prey from here, probably a rabbit or something like that."

"Great, that's pretty simple," pointed out Sam.

"EtzhSHew!"

Bobby turned and looked at Sam knowingly. "Okay, Sam, you come with me. There's no way that Dean and you can be together right now if you're making him sneeze like this."

"Sorry," Sam sighed as he looked to Dean. "Do you think that you can wait here until we come back?"

Dean huffed as he sat on the nearest stump. "I'm not five! EtzhShew!"

Bobby shot him a glance as he loaded the rifle. "Just try to stay quiet, would ya? There's not much that won't scare rabbits."

Dean waved him on as he massaged the bridge of his nose, trying to force himself not to sneeze. He felt telltale prickling of a sneeze, but he grasped his nose together with his thumb and forefinger in an effort to contain it. He clamped on as tightly as possible, narrowing his eyes in concentration. Eventually, he heard the sound of a rifle going off and he prayed that Bobby actually hit something, because he couldn't hold it back anymore.

"EtzhShew! EtzhShew! EthzSHew!"

"Bless you!"

Dean lifted his head as Sam and Bobby returned. Bobby held a rabbit by it's feet and Dean nodded, the handkerchief that he had used earlier pressed against his inflamed nostrils. "Please tell me that Sam and I will have time to change before this things starts to feed?"

Bobby checked the time before looked to he sky, then at the rabbit, and finally to Dean. "Alright, but you two better be quick. I need you back here so that we can kill this thing. Something tells me this could be an entire pack."

"And we caught only one rabbit because," Sam started.

"If it is a pack then we can watch the werewolves kill each other first," Bobby replied with almost a giddy look on his face.

"It's almost concerning what you find enjoyable," Dean snuffled, pocketing the handkerchief back into his pocket. It had become limp and wilted from use. 

Sam fished the keys out of his pocket and started to walk back to the Impala. "We'll be back!"

Dean headed after Sam, but kept his distance as his brother's suit made his nose tickle once more. "EtczSHew! EtczSHew! Ugh, Sammy, I know that you were just trying to help, but—“

"I didn't see many other options," confessed Sam before Dean could make him feel any worse. "I was just trying to help. Apparently it didn't do any good."

Dean shot forward with another sneeze into the handkerchief. "EthzShew! EtszSHew!"

"I know that you were." Dean gave a powerful sniff. "Thanks."

Sam shrugged. "Don't mention it. Just be glad that we can go back to the motel and change and shower before Bobby needs us. Hopefully you don't have another sneezing fit tonight when we’re hunting.”

"EtzSHew! I can't make any promises, Sam, but I'll see what I can do," he told him with a goofy grin.

Sam rolled his eyes in feigned amusement as he climbed into the driver's side with Dean in the passenger's. As soon as the two of them sat down, Dean broke out into another fit of sneezes.

"EtzhSHew! EtzShew! EzhSHew!"

Sam started to Impala and started back to their motel, which was only ten minutes away. "I think that next time we find out that there's a cat on any case you sit it out. Sound like a plan?”

Dean lowered his wrist from his streaming nose. "I second that!"

Sam laughed and he shook his head. "I take it we burn these suits?"

"EtzhSHew! Definitely," agreed Dean as he thought about being in a cat fur and dander free zone. That was something that he had been waiting for since they stepped foot in Mrs. Marley’s house.

"I just want you to remember this feeling next time we have to do anything in spring," Sam told him.

Dean laughed as he elbowed Sam roughly. "I can't promise that! I'm only allergic to cats. You're basically allergic to an entire season," he argued.

Sam blushed in amusement. "Yeah, yeah."

Dean sighed as he leaned back and watched the open highway stretch out in front of them. "You know, it could've been worse," pointed out Sam as he turned to his brother.

"And do you figure that?"

"It could've been a house full of cats. She did look like she would be a crazy cat lady," Sam pointed out as he watched Dean propel himself forward with another sneeze.

"EztchSHew! EtzSHew!" Dean scrubbed at his his rebellious nose hard. "Sammy! Just mentioning that makes me sneeze.”

Sam laughed as he pressed on the gas a little quicker. "You know, I kind of liked Midnight. She was pretty cute."

"Not one more word about it," Dean seethed, still scrubbing at his nose. "She was not cute and she is not meant to be enjoyed. Cats are probably sent directly from Hell!”

"That's harsh. But, whatever you have to say to make yourself feel better," Sam pointed out with a nonchalant shrug.

"What's going to make me feel better is a shower and as far away from you in that cat suit as possible!" He continued to rub at his nose now bright red nose. "I hope this hunt is simple."

"This is our lives, Dean. Nothing is simple, or normal, or how you think that it should go, but I'm glad that you still have some optimism," Sam flashed with a grin.

Dean pressed his head against the cool window as he watched the trees pass them on the highway. Sam was right. This was their life and it was far from normal or simple. Things would go wrong that could possibly go wrong and there would be nothing that they could do about it. They would have seemingly simple troubles like a cat allergy or supernatural ones like being thrown in Hell and escaping again. But, until then, they would take it one case at a time. That's what they always did. That meant that next on the list was a werewolf, or maybe even an entire pack. That they could deal with.

"What are you smiling about," Sam asked as he looked over to his brother.

Dean chuckled. "I'm just thinking how easy it would be to feed Midnight to a werewolf."


End file.
